Chapter 125: You and Your Brother Both
Alice pondered for a moment before saying, "I have a rather offensive question, if I may ask."
"...As if you haven't offended me enough already?" Amon asked, puzzled.
"So, you won't fly into a rage and kill me if I say it, right?" Alice sought confirmation again.
"I'm not so sure anymore," Amon frowned, sensing this wasn't going to be simple.
Alice blinked at Amon.
Though reason told Amon He'd better not ask further, curiosity ultimately got the better of Him: "So, what exactly do you want to say?"
After a moment's hesitation, Alice asked, "...Are you and your brother both gay?"
"?"
Amon glared at Alice and asked, "Do you really think I won't kill you?"
"I asked first... You told me to say it..." Alice mumbled in her defense.
"Oh?" Amon gave Alice a threatening look.
Alice immediately sat up straight and said with utmost sincerity, "You're the great Angel of Time, how could you possibly make a mistake!"
"Ahem," Amon cleared his throat, his eyes betraying obvious amusement. "I'm really starting to feel reluctant about killing you. After all, humans as interesting as you are quite rare... Why don't you consider becoming one of my followers?"
"...Do I need to wear a monocle?" Alice tilted her head and asked earnestly.
"Hmm... You can be the type of follower who doesn't wear a monocle," Amon said with a smile. "So, what's the deal with those drawings anyway?"
"My friend... well, the one you've met," Alice chose her words carefully, "She read a book that told a... love story between you and the Fool."
"?" Amon finally couldn't control his expression.
"So... is it possible that this was a book written by an 'author'?" Alice asked sincerely.
"If you were that 'author', then it's very possible," Amon replied after some thought.
"Hmm..." Alice seriously considered this possibility. "If I were the 'author', I... I'd write a celebrity's biography!"
"Oh?" Amon looked at Alice, waiting for her to elaborate.
Alice began to describe more details:
"I'd write about the entire process of someone becoming famous, then interview them after they've become famous.
"Then, I'd publish what I've written, either as a biography or mark it as 'based on true events' at the end or something..."
"Clap, clap, clap," Amon applauded Alice. "Interesting idea, but not one an 'author' would have."
"What do you mean?" Alice blinked.
"Deliberately leaving traces is something a 'provocateur' would do," Amon said with a smile, tossing the "Provocateur" potion to Alice.
Alice caught the potion reflexively, then looked at Amon in confusion.
"Keep it as a souvenir," Amon said with a smile. "So... those people you mentioned... who like me, they fell for me because of that book?"
Alice nodded.
After looking at Alice for a while, Amon asked pensively, "The book you mentioned... did it exist before the First Epoch?"
"...You know?" Alice bit her lip.
"Having lived for so long, with a father like mine, do you think I wouldn't know about the history that existed before the First Epoch?" Amon chuckled softly.
"...Well, do you know that your father might have copied the doctrines and creation myths from the religion he used to believe in?" Alice asked sincerely.
"...That's indeed news to me," Amon replied ambiguously.
Alice nodded thoughtfully, then answered, "I don't know—maybe this is the world from that book? Like those stories where... where you wake up and find yourself in a book you've read..."
"Who knows?" Amon replied noncommittally. "If that's the case... I wonder how those who like me would react if they saw me in person? Would they be thrilled?"
Alice looked at Amon, thought seriously for a moment, then shuddered and asked, "...Have you heard of 'Ye Gong's love for dragons'?"
"A person surnamed 'Ye' who likes 'dragons'?" Amon repeated the directly translated phrase in confusion.
"It's a story," Alice shook her head and explained. "It's about a man surnamed 'Ye' who loved 'dragons' very much. He fantasized about seeing a dragon in person every day, but when a dragon actually came to see him..."
"What happened to him?" Amon asked curiously.
"He was nearly frightened to death," Alice answered.
"But didn't he like 'dragons'?" Amon asked, puzzled.
Alice shook her head and said softly:
"He liked pictures of 'dragons', he liked making things in the shape of 'dragons', he liked legends and stories about 'dragons', but he didn't like real 'dragons'.
"It's like in that long-gone civilization, where mortals believed in deities but didn't really want deities to exist in the world.
"Because compared to deities, mortals can do so little—just like how you could kill me at any moment if you were in a bad mood."
Amon listened thoughtfully to the entire speech, and finally commented, "The first part was fine, but have you really realized that I can kill you at any time?"
Alice blinked twice.
"The Fool is one thing, after all, he sounds like he's still some distance from being a deity," Amon said, smiling at Alice's expression. "But you don't seem to have much reverence for the Goddess of Night either?"
"...I respect the Goddess," Alice defended.
Amon nodded and concluded, "Which means you're indeed not afraid."
Alice opened her mouth, suddenly at a loss for words.
"And it seems you don't even respect me..." Amon said meaningfully. "When I first saw it, I almost thought it was truly a revelation from Fate."
"Why couldn't it be?" Alice tilted her head. "Maybe it really was a revelation from Fate? Maybe you really are..."
Under Amon's threatening gaze, Alice's voice gradually diminished until it disappeared.
Looking at the now slightly more docile Alice, Amon smiled and said, "There's one thing I forgot to tell you... That comment you made about my paranoid brother and me being... the same, He's probably heard it by now."
Alice's eyes widened.
"How does that feel?" Amon asked with a smile.
"Well, He might become the third Sequence 1 who wants me dead," Alice replied pensively.
"The third?" Amon asked in surprise.
"You're the second," Alice shrugged.
I wonder how Adam would feel seeing this scene (...)